Wayne State College senior Gabe Peitz was voted to the 2023-24 Academic All-America Men’s Track and Field/Cross Country Team, earning Third Team honors.
The award was announced by the College Sports Communicators in NCAA Division II, recognizing the nation’s top student-athletes for their combined performances on the track, in the field and in the classroom.
He is the first Wildcat Academic All-American in track and field/cross country since 2018 and joins Derek Lahm, Mickey Doerr, Alex Timperley and James McGown as Academic All-Americans in the NCAA Division II era at Wayne State.
Peitz, a senior from Wakefield, maintained a 3.97 grade point average majoring in pre-med/chemistry.
He was ninth in the 800-meter run at the NSIC Outdoor Championships and 11th during the NSIC Indoor Championships in the same event during his senior season.
Peitz earned the NSIC Elite 18 Award for men’s outdoor track and field and was the NSIC Elite 18 Award winner in cross country last year as a junior as the top scholar athlete at a Northern Sun Conference Championship event.
He was also awarded the NSIC Myles Brand All-Academic With Distinction and voted College Sports Communicators Academic All-District.
Peitz is the fifth Wayne State athlete to earn College Sports Communicators Academic All-American honors this year, joining volleyball players Taya Beller (First Team), Jordan McCormick (Second Team) and Rachel Walker (Second Team) along with football player Jett Janssen (Second Team).